US 20050148080A1

(19) United States

(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. N0.: US 2005/0148080 A1
Herron
(54)

(43) Pub. Date:

CARBONATE PERMEABILITY

(52)

Jul. 7, 2005

US. Cl. ............................ .. 436/5; 702/12; 73/15205

(75) Inventor: Michael M. Herron, Ridge?eld, CT

(US)

(57)

ABSTRACT

Correspondence Address:
SCHLUMBERGER-DOLL RESEARCH
36 OLD QUARRY ROAD
RIDGEFIELD, CT 06877-4108 (Us)
_

tions is disclosed. In this method, permeability may be

(73) Asslgnee'

dTEfFENgIPOGY

(21)

A modi?cation to the Coates-Timur relationship to produce

a more coherent relationship applicable to carbonate forma

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for improved estimation of irreducible Water saturation of a

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(22) Filed.

determined using porosity and the ratio of bound ?uid

volume to (1-bound ?uid volume). This method also alloWs
carbonate formation using the ratio of kC and (eq)f+k).
Likewise, the bound ?uid volume of a carbonate formation

Dec. 29, 2003

may be determined using the ratio of <|>k and (eq)f+k). In

Publication Classi?cation

these relationships, e, X, and f are constants according to the

following relationships e=X, f=bc+1, X is betWeen 1 and 100

(51)

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US 2005/0148080 A1

[0011] Accordingly, it is one object of the present inven

tion to present a method of correlating porosity, bound ?uid
volume, and permeability for most types of carbonate rocks.

CARBONATE PERMEABILITY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

determining characteristics of carbonate formations and,

more particularly, to a method for determining the perme
ability or bound ?uid volume of carbonate formations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Estimating permeability of sedimentary formations

is one of the most important factors in distinguishing eco

nomic from uneconomic reservoirs. Generally, hoWever, the

estimation of permeability from log data has been only
partially successful. The Coates-Timur relationship is
Widely used in magnetic resonance Well logging to correlate
permeability to tWo parameters, porosity ((1)) and bound ?uid
volume (BFV) as folloWs:

[0012]

The present invention discloses a modi?cation to

the Coates-Timur relationship to produce an improved rela

tionship to determine permeability of carbonate formations,
in particular Water-Wet carbonate formations. Accordingly,
the present invention relates permeability to porosity and the
ratio of bound ?uid volume to (1bound ?uid volume).
[0013]

In a ?rst embodiment, a method to determine the

permeability of a carbonate formation is disclosed compris

ing: (a) obtaining core data representative of the carbonate

formation; (b) determining the porosity and either irreduc
ible Water saturation or bound ?uid volume of the carbonate

formation from the data; (c) estimating the permeability

from porosity and the ratio of bound ?uid volume to
(1bound ?uid volume). Because irreducible Water satura

tion (Swim) generally equals bound ?uid volume divided by

porosity ((1)), the ratio of bound ?uid volume to (1bound
?uid volume) can be substituted With the ratio of SWin((1)) to
[0003] Where a, b, and c are empirical constants With
common values of 10000, 4, and 2. BFV is the product of
porosity and irreducible Water saturation, Swim, so the equa
tion above can also be given as:

l-SWW
C

[0014] Preferably, the folloWing relationship betWeen per

meability, porosity, and bound ?uid volume is used:

(2)

k _ m [ Swirr ]

[0015] Where k is permeability, (1) is porosity, BFV is

[0004]

Using the default values of a, b, and c, this can be

rearranged to:

bound ?uid volume and X, b, and c are constants. The data

may be nuclear magnetic relaxation time data. Likewise, the

porosity of the formation is determined using data develop
using pulsed neutron techniques as knoWn in the art. Con
stants b and c are determined based on the acquired data and

X is betWeen 1 and 100 mD, and preferably 10 mD.

[0005] Substantially more detailed discussions regarding

the Coates-Timur equation can be found in:

[0006] Timur, A., 1969, Producible porosity and per

meability of sandstones investigated through NMR

principles,L0gAnalyst, 10(1), 3-11;

[0007] Ahmed, U., Crary, S. F. and Coates, G. R., 1989,
Permeability estimation: the various sources and their

interrelationship, SPE 19604; and

[0008] Coates, G. R., Miller, M., Gillen, M. and Hend

erson, G., 1991, The MRIL in Conoco 33-1an
investigation of a neW magnetic resonance imaging

log, Trans. SPWLA 32th Ann. Log. Symp., NeW

Orleans, La., Paper DD.

[0009]

Each of these references are incorporated by ref

erence herein in their entireties.

[0010] HoWever, the Coates-Timur relationship betWeen

[0016] In a second embodiment, irreducible Water satura

tion of a carbonate formation may be determined, compris

ing: (a) obtaining data representative of the carbonate for

mation; (b) determining the porosity ((1)) and permeability (k)

of the carbonate formation from the data; and (c) estimating
the irreducible Water saturation of the carbonate formation
using the ratio of k0 and (e(1)f+k), Wherein c, e, and f are
constants. More particularly, e=X, f=bc+1, X is betWeen 1
and 100 mD (preferably 10 mD), and b and c are determined
based on the acquired data.

[0017] In a third embodiment, the bound ?uid volume of

a carbonate formation may be determined, comprising: (a)

obtaining data representative of the carbonate formation; (b)

determining the porosity ((1)) and permeability (k) of the
carbonate formation from the data; and (c) estimating the
bound ?uid volume of the carbonate formation using the
ratio of (1)l<C and (e(1)f+k), Wherein c, e, and f are constants.
As above, e=X, f=bc+1, X is betWeen 1 and 100 mD
(preferably 10 mD), and b and c are determined based on the

acquired data.

porosity, irreducible Water saturation and permeability often

does not adequately describe carbonate formations, Which
account for approximately 60% of the earths hydrocarbon

invention Will become more readily apparent from the

reserves.

?gures and detailed description that folloWs.

[0018] Further features and applications of the present

Jul. 7, 2005

US 2005/0148080 A1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028]

[0019] FIG. 1 is a graph depicting predicted SWin using

FIG. 3 compares measured permeability on 208

carbonate samples With permeability estimated from the

Coates-Timur equations using the default values for a, b, and

the Coates-Timur-Permeability equation as compared to

measured SWirr (100 psi) values on 208 carbonate samples.

c. The Coates-Timur estimates are generally too high by up

to three orders of magnitude.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a graph depicting predicted SWin using

[0029] FIG. 4 shoWs the same measured permeabilities as

FIG. 3 but this time compares them With values derived

the Coates-Timur-Permeability equation as compared to

measured BFV (100 psi) values on the same 208 samples as
FIG. 1.

[0021]

FIG. 3 is a graph depicting the measured perme

ability on the same 208 samples as FIGS. 1 and 2 as

compared to estimates from the Coates-Timur equations

using default values of a, b, and c.

[0022]

FIG. 4 is a graph depicting the measured perme

ability on the same 208 carbonate samples as FIGS. 1, 2, and

3 as compared to estimates from Equation (5) using values

of X=10 mD, b=4 and c=2.

from Equation (5) using a value of X=10 mD. The estimated

permeabilities are in much better agreement With the mea
sured values for most samples. For a feW samples, the

measured permeabilities are seemingly high, particularly

When compared to nearby samples With a similar porosity
and composition. In these cases, it is suspected that the
measured permeabilities are affected by fractures leading to
too high values.
[0030] Equation (5) may be reWritten to alloW for an
improved estimation of irreducible Water saturation for
carbonate reservoir based on permeability and porosity, as
folloWs:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE

INVENTION

[0023]

kc

Equation (3) above is knoWn as the Coates-Timur

Swirr =

Permeability equation. A comparison of the Equation (3) to

measured SWin values for carbonate rocks is shoWn in FIG.
1. The measured SWin values Were obtained by centrifuging
208 carbonate samples at an entry pressure of 100 psi. The

ordinate of FIG. 1 is predicted SWin using Equation (3) and

the abscissa is the measured Swim. A 1:1 line is shoWn for
comparison. This ?gure shoWs that there is no positive
correlation betWeen the predicted SWin and the measured

Swim. For many carbonate samples, particularly loW porosity

samples, the measured SWin actually eXceeds unity if the

[0031]

(6)

(BW +kc)

Where e=X, f=bc+1, X is betWeen 1 and 100 mD

(preferably 10 mD).
[0032] Likewise, Equation (5) may be rewritten to alloW
for an improved estimation of bound ?uid volume for
carbonate reservoirs based on permeability and porosity, as
folloWs:

measured BFV eXceeds a second measure of total porosity.

Accordingly, the Coates-Timur relationship betWeen poros

ity, irreducible Water saturation and permeability does not
Work for many carbonate cores.

[0024] The predicted SWin calculated using Equation (3)

shoWs a better correlation With measured BFV than With

SWin (see FIG. 2), implying that

100$2

(4)

[0025] Accordingly, it has been discovered that for car

bonates bound ?uid volume is proportionally related to

porosity and permeability.

[0026] Equation (4) therefore can be rearranged to pro
duce a modi?ed Coates-Timur relationship for carbonates in
Equation (5) With a neW premultiplier X.

[0033]

again, Where e=X, f=bc+1, X is betWeen 1 and 100

mD (preferably 10 mD).
[0034] Accordingly, this neW relationship has potential
oil?eld applications in at least tWo areas involving carbonate
rocks. First, if porosity or bound ?uid volume are measured

(such as by magnetic resonance logging or pulsed neutron

techniques), then this neW relationship may be solved to
determine an accurate estimate of permeability. Second, if
logging measurements can provide estimates of porosity and

permeability (such as through k-lambda) then BFV and S Wirr

can be estimated from this neW relationship.

[0035] While the invention has been described herein With

reference to certain eXamples and embodiments, it Will be
evident that various modi?cations and changes may be made
to the embodiments described above Without departing from
the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method to determine the permeability of a carbonate

formation, comprising:
[0027]

Atypical value of X Will be betWeen 1 and 100 mD,

preferably 10 mD, compared to the typical value of 10000

mD in the original Coates-Timur relationship (see Equation

(1))

a. obtaining data representative of said carbonate forma

tion;
b. determining the porosity ((1)) of said carbonate forma
tion from said data and at least one of the group

Jul. 7, 2005

US 2005/0148080 A1

consisting of bound ?uid volume (BFV) and irreduc

ible Water saturation (S Wirr) of said carbonate formation
from said data; and

c. estimating the permeability (k) of said carbonate for

mation using the porosity and the ratio of (1-BFV) and
BFV.

2. The method of claim 1, Wherein said ratio is the ratio

of (1_SWirrq)) and SWirrq)'

3. The method of claim 1, Wherein estimating said per
meability based on the folloWing relationship:

9. The method of claim 8, Wherein e=X, f=bc+1, Wherein

b is a constant.

10. The method of claim 9, Wherein X is betWeen 1 and

100 mD.
11. The method of claim 10, Wherein X is 10 mD.

12. The method of claim 8, Wherein the porosity of the

formation is determined using data develop using pulsed

neutron techniques.
13. The method of claim 8, Wherein said data is nuclear

magnetic relaXation time data.

14. A method to determine the bound ?uid volume of a

carbonate formation, comprising:

a. obtaining data representative of said carbonate forma

tion;
Wherein X, b, and c are constants.

4. The method of claim 1, Wherein the porosity of the

formation is determined using data develop using pulsed

neutron techniques.
5. The method of claim 1, Wherein said data is nuclear

magnetic relaxation time data.

6. The method of claim 1, Wherein X is betWeen 1 and 100
mD.
7. The method of claim 6, Wherein X is 10 mD.
8. A method to determine the irreducible Water saturation

of a carbonate formation, comprising:

a. obtaining data representative of said carbonate forma

tion;
b. determining the porosity ((1)) and permeability (k) of
said carbonate formation from said data; and
c. estimating the irreducible Water saturation of said

carbonate formation using the ratio of k0 and (eq)f+k),

Wherein c, e, and f are constants.

b. determining the porosity ((1)) and permeability (k) of

said carbonate formation from said data; and
c. estimating the bound ?uid volume of said carbonate

formation using the ratio of <|>k and (eq)f+k), Wherein

c, e, and f are constants.

15. The method of claim 14, Wherein e=X, f=bc+1,

Wherein b is a constant.

16. The method of claim 15, Wherein X is betWeen 1 and

100 mD
17. The method of claim 16, Wherein X is 10 mD.

18. The method of claim 14, Wherein the porosity of the

formation is determined using data develop using pulsed

neutron techniques.
19. The method of claim 14, Wherein said data is nuclear

magnetic relaXation time data.